USA > Missouri > Henry County > History of Henry County, Missouri > Part 29
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Since attaining his majority Mr. Wilson has been a stanch Democrat. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons Lodge No. 408, Montrose, Missouri, and has been a Mason since 1878. He is a mem- ber of Chapter No. 90, George Frank Guley, Appleton City, Missouri.
Mr. Wilson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Montrose and was steward of his church from 1870 to 1910. He was superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-six years and is conceded to be the best authority upon family genealogy as concerns those families living in his section of the county. He was first made a steward of the church at Round Prairie in Bates County and when he removed to Henry County the same office was given him by the Montrose church. When he retired from the Sunday school superintendency by reason of advanc- ing age the members of the Sunday school gave him a beautiful embossed Bible as a testimonial of their love and high esteem, in token of his twenty- six years of faithful and unremitting service in behalf of the young folks of the church. Mr. Wilson has lived an honest, honorable and just life according to the precepts of the greatest Teacher of all, and although during his long business career he has seen men take advantage of their fellows he has never succumbed to similar temptations and has treated
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his fellow men in a just and upright way. He likes to do right because it is right and because he has loved to deal justly and honorably with others. His seventy-seven years have been well and profitably spent and now in the eventide of his life he is able to look back over the years that have passed and calmly await the last great summons with a heart and mind at peace with all mankind. Mr. Wilson attributes much of his suc- cess in life to the faithful and loving counsel and assistance of his wife, whom he has invariably consulted regarding his business transactions.
Although he has passed the age when men are active in civic affairs, this aged gentleman still takes a keen interest in movements of the day and is a constant reader who keeps abreast of the times and is well in- formed on many subjects. He was a member of the "One Hundred Booster Club," which put across the Third Liberty Loan in Henry County, and made the big drive to obtain the quota of this county in bond sub- scriptions an overwhelming success.
Henry Baum, a well known hardware merchant of Clinton, Missouri, has been identified with the business development of Henry County for many years. He was born in Wittenberg, Germany, April 10, 1853, and is a son of Patrick and Mary Ann (Walter) Baum, and was the fifth child in the order of birth in a family of six boys. The father died in his native land when Henry was about three years old and in 1859 the mother and her six boys, Henry then being about six years of age, came to America and on Christmas Day, 1859, the family landed at New Or- leans, Louisiana. They then came up the Mississippi River as far as Cairo, Illinois, by boat, and on January 1, 1860, reached St. Louis by rail. They then went to Lebanon, Illinois, where the boys grew to manhood and the mother spent the remainder of her life there. Of this family Henry, the subject of this sketch, is the only one living.
Mr. Baum was educated in the public schools at Lebanon, Illinois, and in 1870, when he was seventeen years of age, he went to St. Louis to make his own way in the world. Here he learned the tinner's trade and worked at his trade in St. Louis about seven and one-half years. He then worked as a journeyman tinner in different places, including Kan- sas City. October 1, 1884, he came to Clinton and entered the employ of the Hasler Hardware Company, having charge of their tinshop for eighteen years and seven months. On June 19, 1902, he engaged in busi- ness for himself in Clinton. At first he engaged in the tinning business and gradually added a stock of hardware which he increased from time
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to time until today he has one of the most complete stocks of hardware to be found in Henry County, and is one of the leading hardware mer- chants of this section. Mr. Baum has but one rule in business and that is to give a square deal to everybody, which accounts for the rapid growth and development of his humble beginning sixteen years ago to a business of the present magnitude of Henry Baum's Hardware Store at Clinton. Mr. Baum employs five men in the store and tin shop.
January 19, 1879, Henry Baum was united in marriage with Miss Melora Eleanora Bergmann, a native of St. Louis. She was reared in that city and received her education under the training of the nuns in St. Peter and Paul's Parish. To Mr. and Mrs. Baum were born three children, as follow: Catherine Eleanora, a graduate of the Clinton High School, the Missouri State University, and is now a teacher in the Clinton High School; Emil Henry, a sheet iron worker, Chicago, Illinois; and Edgar Walter, with his father at Clinton. Mrs. Baum departed this life March 30, 1918. She was a woman of noble character and led an exemplary Christian life, and no small part of her husband's success is due to the wisdom of her counsel and her sympathetic co-operation. She was a devout member of the Catholic Church and Mr. Baum and his children are communicants of the same denomination. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of Clinton and has been identi- fied with that lodge for a number of years.
Thomas B. Parks, county surveyor of Henry County, is a native son of this county and a member of a well known pioneer family of western Missouri. He was born at Leesville, Missouri, April 10, 1860, and is a son of Bird D. and Lourinda J. (Lee) Parks. Bird D. Parks, the father, was born in Kentucky and when twelve years of age came to Missouri with his parents, who located in Cooper County. He was a son of Peyton Parks. Bird D. Parks came to Henry County in 1844 and settled on a farm on Grand River south of Leesville. He bought his land from the Government at $1.25 per acre. At that time the Government land office was located at Lexington and Mr. Parks went there to pay for his land, and like other settlers of that time paid for it in silver dollars. Here he followed farming until the Civil War broke out, when he entered the Confederate Army and served as captain of a company in General Price's army. During the early part of the war he participated in a number of important engagements, including the battles of Lexington and Wilson Creek. Afterwards he returned to his Henry County home and removed
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with his family to Cooper County, and after the war returned to Henry County and settled in Springfield township, where the town of Thrush now stands. Here he spent the remainder of his life engaged in general farming and stock raising. He was a man of unusual ability and his life was filled with experiences out of the ordinary. In 1849 he made the trip to California. He went by the Overland route with ox teams and after remaining about a year at the mecca of the gold seekers, he returned home by way of the Isthmus of Panama. On this trip he was ship- wrecked in the Carrabean Sea. He was a Democrat and prominent in the political affairs of Henry County and for eight years held the position of county surveyor. He was widely known as a prominent Mason. He died in 1903 at the age of eighty-six years. His wife, who was also a Kentuckian, died in 1893, aged seventy-five years.
To Bird D. and Lourinda J. (Lee) Parks were born eight children who grew to maturity, three of whom are living as follows: Louisa, mar- ried Thomas Baughman, who is now deceased and she resides in Okla- homa; H. A., of Kansas City, Missouri, and Thomas B., the subject of this sketch.
Thomas B. Parks received his early education in the public schools of Henry County and later entered the State Normal School at Warrens- burg, where he was graduated in the class of 1878. He then engaged in teaching in Henry County and taught about seven years in all, during which time he was principal of the Calhoun schools one year. He was appointed county surveyor of Henry County in 1887 and elected to that office a number of times, serving thirteen years in succession. He then went to Montana, and for a number of years was in the employ of the Government as a surveyor, during which time he surveyed and sectionized a portion of the Flat Head Indian Reservation. In 1907 he returned to Henry County and from that time until 1916 was engaged in farming. He was then elected county surveyor again, which office he still holds. He owns a valuable farm and is interested in farming and stock raising.
Mr. Parks was married January 9, 1888, to Miss Minnie L. Strieby, a native of Michigan, who came to Henry County with her parents in 1871. She is a daughter of Joel and Melvina (Norris) Strieby, who now reside in Clinton. To Mr. and Mrs. Parks have been born the following children: Pearl, married Mode Davis, Clinton; Clayta, married Albert Dunning, Jr., Fairview township; Zoe, at home with his parents; Man- ford, resided on his father's farm until he became a soldier in the Na-
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tional Army ; Gordon, a midshipman in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland; Mildred, a teacher in Saskatchewan, Canada, and Vivian, a graduate of the Clinton High School, class of 1918, who resides at home.
Mr. Parks is a Democrat and has been identified with that party all his life. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Modern Wood- men of America.
William Avery Foote, a pioneer business man of Clinton, now living retired, is a native of New York. He was born in Oneida County, De- cember 12, 1839. His parents were John and Mary (Lull) Foote, both natives of the State of New York. The Foote family is of English lineage and the ancestors of William A. Foote were early settlers in New Eng- land. Nathaniel Foote, of England, immigrated to New England in 1636 and was one of the first settlers of Weathersfield, Connecticut. Mary Lull, the mother of William Avery Foote, is a descendant of one of the early families to settle in New York. John and Mary (Lull) Foote went to Wisconsin and spent the last years of their lives in Dane County, that State, where they both died. They were the parents of nine children and three of their sons served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
William Avery Foote was ten years of age when his parents removed from Oneida to Wyoming County, New York, where the father conducted a tannery. In 1858 William went to Springfield, Illinois. Here he attended school for a time and for four years was employed in a hardware store. He then went to Indianapolis, Indiana, to work in a hardware store for the same employer, where he remained about four years. In 1869 he came to Henry County, Missouri, where he and his brother, Ebenezer Lull Foote engaged in the hardware business under the firm name of Foote Brothers. They also conducted a grain and elevator business in partnership, E. L. having charge of that department while William A. conducted the hardware business. When the Foote Brothers started in business in Clinton there was no railroad in Henry County and their goods were hauled mostly from Warrensburg. They continued business in Clinton for forty years, disposing of their mercantile business in 1909, and since that time Mr. Foote has been practically retired, with the exception of looking after his various business interests.
Mr. Foote was united in marriage September 14, 1869, with Miss Emma D. Wood, a native of Springfield, Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Foote were born two children, Mary L., who married Henry W. Kerr of
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Denver, Colorado, who is now deceased, and she resides with her father in Clinton; and S. Elizabeth, married Robert E. Harmon of Clinton, Mis- souri. Mrs. Foote departed this life January 12, 1917. She was a highly educated and cultured woman who lived a consistent Christian life. She was a life long member of the Baptist Church and was active in the work of her denomination. Mr. Foote is also a member of the Baptist Church and has been a Republican. To Henry W. and Mary L. Kerr was born one son, Derry William Kerr. Robert E. and S. Elizabeth Harmon have one child, Elizabeth Agnes Harmon.
John D. Brown .- Fifty-one years ago John D. Brown, well-to-do re- tired farmer of the Montrose neighborhood in Deepwater township, came to Henry County from his old home in Illinois and purchased a large tract of unimproved prairie land at a cost of $13 an acre. He and his brother, M. V. Brown, bought together seven hundred acres of land. Mr. Brown erected his handsome and substantial farm residence in the fall of 1868 and has had the extreme satisfaction of developing his fine farm of four hundred acres from unbroken prairie. He has placed every shrub and tree upon the place and year after year has witnessed the growing of crops in succession upon the acreage which he reclaimed. As he has grown old he has likewise prospered and now in his old age is well content with what has come to him through his own endeavors and the assistance of his noble wife, who has gone to her reward.
John D. Brown was born near Springfield, Illinois, on March 1, 1842. He is the son of Reason B. and Rachel (Ernest) Brown, both of whom were born and reared in Kentucky and were early settlers in Illinois. After their two sons had settled in Henry County the parents came to Missouri and settled upon a farm one mile south of John D. Brown's place. In old age they retired to a home in Appleton City, where both died and lie buried. In 1861 John D. Brown went to Idaho and worked in the gold and silver mines of that State and also served as a packer and freighter of merchandise between Walloolo and Bannock City and Placerville, all mining camps in the West. He returned to his home in Illinois in 1866 with his savings from five years of hard work. In 1867 he came to Missouri and purchased his farm.
November 7, 1867, John D. Brown and Miss Louise Cecil were united in marriage and Mr. Brown says of this marriage: "It was the best thing I ever did." One child is the offspring of this happy marriage: Gertrude, wife of John Henry Holland, a farmer living near Hartwell, Henry County.
JOHN D. BROWN
MRS. JOHN D. BROWN
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Mrs. Louise (Cecil) Brown was descended from one of the oldest pioneer families of Henry County. She was born February 25, 1847, on a pioneer farm near old Leesville, in eastern Henry County, and was the daughter of Wilson and Henry Cecil, pioneer settlers of Henry County. Mrs. Brown died April 10, 1909. She was a good and faithful wife to her husband and the married life of this devoted couple was a most happy and con- genial one. She was a true helpmeet and was a deeply religious woman, being active in the affairs of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which she was long a valued member.
Mr. Brown has generally voted the Democratic ticket and is a mem- ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Now living a comfortable retired life upon his place he varies the days with trips to the nearby town of Montrose, where he enjoys hob-nobbing with his old friends of many years standing. He recalls the days of old, when people were happy and hospitable and kind-when the neighbors would take turns in going to mill, their nearest grinding place being the Xenia mills, thirty-five miles away on a tributary emptying into the Osage River. They would take a very heavy load of grain and the trip to Xenia and return would require two days. Mr. Brown enjoyed hunting and fishing in the early days and his boon companion on many hunting trips was the late Bill Salmon of Germantown. He has killed many deer and prairie chickens. No man is more highly regarded in his section of Henry County nor more universally respected than John D. Brown, who is intelligent, well read and companionable.
Charles H. Snyder, a Union veteran of the Civil War, is one of the substantial pioneer residents of Henry Country. Mr. Snyder was born in Dresden, Saxony, October 31, 1839, a son of Ernest and Emelia A. (Laonhardt) Snyder. The Snyder family came to America in 1849, land- ing in New York November 3. Ernest Snyder, the father, was a promi- nent civil engineer and held a high station in that profession in his native land. He took a prominent part in politics and was a political associate of Carl Shurtz, of whom it will be recalled was prominent in a political revolution that took place in Germany about the middle of the last cen- tury. On account of his political activity in opposition to the govern- ment, Ernest Snyder left his native land with his family and came to America, and thus escaped prosecution for opposing the same Prussianism with which the world is contending today.
After coming to America Ernest Snyder with his family located in
EENZY COUNTY HISTORY
Nicholas Commay. West Virginia. Here be remained until 1853, when he removed to New York City, where he was connected with a large locomo- tive works in his professional capacity as a civil engineer. He remained there miil 1855. when he went to Scranton. Pennsylvania, with the Union Irom and Coal Company as civil engineer. In 1858 he went to Tennessee and bought a large tract of land, upon which he remained turil 1863. He ciem returned to bis profession, entering the employ of the Louisville & Nashvile Railroad Company with headquarters at Louisville, and during his commertion with that railroad be drew the plans and superintended the construction of the LouisZe & Nashville bridge across the Ohio River at Louisville. About this time his health failed and he retired and Bred a: New Altany. Indiana, mail the time of his death in 1868. His wife died in Clinton. Missouri, in 1871. They were the parents of two caféren. E. W_ who died in Kansas City. Missouri, in 1898. and Charles H_ the subject of this sketch.
Charles H. Suyder had the advantages of a good education, much better than the average youth of a half century ago. He attended Ber- eriy Institute at Beverly. New Jersey, and then took a course in the Wyo- ming Seminary at Wyoming. Pennsylvania, and was graduated in the class of 1856. He them entered the Eastman Commercial College at Poughkeepsie. New York, where he was graduated. Jammary 25, 1858. He them entered the employ of the Delaware. Lackawanna & Western Ralroad Company a: Sorantor, Pennsylvania, for George Scranton, from winou tha: Pennsylvania city takes its name. Shortly after this, Mr. Smyder's health failed and be was advised by specialists to seek a mom- tain climate. Accordingly he went to Temmessee and after remaining abour a year in the Cumberland Mountains he accepted a position as man- ager of & mercantile establishment at Pikeville, Bledsoe Comty. Ten- messee. This was just prior to the Civil War and Mr. Snyder was elected captain of the home guards there. After the Civil War broke out most of his acquaintances and associates at Pleville joined the cause of the Confederacy, but Mr. Snyder remained a strong Union man. The grow- img hostile attitude of bis neighbors, with a number of warnings issued to him for his loyalty to the Union, led Mr. Sayder to the sudden con- cinsion that Pikeville was not a good place for a Union man to remain and accordingly he took his sudden departure. December 13, 1861. He Det: on foot in the night and for two weeks kept up his journey through the mountains. Oz December 25. 1861, he reached Somerset and enlisted
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in Company F, Second Regiment, East Tennessee Volunteers. He par- ticipated in the battle of Mill Springs, which was fought January 19, 1862, and after that he served on detached duty until 1863. Mr. Snyder then entered the employ of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company as assistant auditor with headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky. He re- mained in that capacity until 1865, when he came to Henry County, Missouri.
Upon coming to Henry County Mr. Snyder engaged in the lumber business. He opened the first lumber yard in Clinton. This was before there were any railroads here and all his lumber was hauled from War- rensburg, which was the nearest railroad point. After being in the lum- ber business for about one and one-half years, Mr. Snyder was appointed deputy county clerk. In 1870 he was elected county clerk and served two terms. Mr. Snyder, perhaps, has held a commission as notary public longer than any other man in Henry County, receiving his first commis- sion in 1875, and has served as notary public ever since that time, and so far as known he bears the distinction of being the oldest ex-county official of Henry County. Mr. Snyder has been in the real estate loan and fire insurance business for nearly forty years, and during that time he has loaned a great deal of eastern money to the farmers of Henry County.
Mr. Snyder was united in marriage March 26, 1861, to Miss Mattie Boyes, a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, but at the time of her mar- riage a resident of Tennessee. To Mr. and Mrs. Snyder were born three children: Meta, married H. H. Williams, Clinton, Missouri; Charles W., who served in the Eleventh United States Infantry during the Spanish- American War. He made a good military record but his health failed while he was in the service and he died May 27, 1900; Margaret C., is unmarried and resides with her father in Clinton. Mrs. Mattie Snyder died May 25, 1912, at the age of seventy-one years.
Mr. Snyder has always been identified with the Republican party although in a political sense he is inclined to be independent. As he expresses it, he proposes to do his own thinking. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Herman Millard Hull, a "real old settler" of Davis township, was born September 8, 1859, in De Kalb County, Illinois, a son of Silas C. and Angeline Hull, pioneer settlers of Henry County, a sketch of whose lives appears in this volume in connection with the sketch of J. M. Hull, brother
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of Herman Millard Hull. Mr. Hull accompanied his parents to Henry County in 1866 and was here reared to young manhood and educated in the Willow Branch district school, of which his father was one of the founders. Mr. Hull is owner of a fine farm of eighty acres located in section 23, Davis township, and also owns a timber tract of five acres in section 33. For the past thirty years Mr. Hull has been engaged in carpenter work and farming. He has done a great amount of foundation building in Henry County and has erected more dwelling houses from the ground up than any other carpenter and builder in his section of Henry County. Mr. Hull has always taken a just pride in the thoroughness and reliability of his work, which compares favorably with the best. From 1911 to 1912 he resided in Los Angeles, California, and was there engaged in carpenter work.
Mr. Hull was married on April 30, 1884, to Ida May Fahnestock, and to this marriage have been born children as follow: Gary Millard, born February 15, 1885, now managing the La Due Lumber Yard, married Stella Ferry and has one child, Walter G .; Irvin Milton, born October 22, 1888, resides in La Due, married Nellie Maddox and has two children, Richard Henry and Vivian Marie. Mrs. Ida May Hull was born July 26, 1866, in Darke County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Ephraim L. and Sarah (Gessa- men) Fahnestock, the latter of whom died in her native State. The Fahnestocks migrated to Henry County, Missouri, in 1871 and Ephraim L. Fahnestock died in this county.
H. M. Hull has always been allied with the Democratic party and has held many positions of trust and responsibility in Davis township. He served for some years as township treasurer and for the past twelve years he has filled the office of justice of the peace. Mrs. Hull and the members of the family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. , Hull is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, La Due Lodge No. 772.
B. F. McKeaigg, president of the Bank of La Due, and a prosperous farmer of Davis township, was born in Lawrence County, Indiana, April 30, 1868. He is the son of Robert C. (born 1833, died 1893) and Alferna (Swindler) McKeaigg. Robert C. McKeaigg was a native of Indiana and a son of Harrison McKeaigg, of Kentucky, who was an early settler of Lawrence County, Indiana. In 1884 Robert C. McKeaigg came to Henry County, Missouri, and after residing here for a short time he went to Oklahoma, where he homesteaded a tract of Government land and died
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in that State. Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKeaigg were parents of nine chil- dren, seven of whom survive: William H., resides in Pasadena, California ; B. F., subject of this review; (twins), Jasper N. and Oscar C., of Thomas, Oklahoma ; Thomas, lives at Newkirk, Oklahoma ; Louis, La Due, Missouri; Mrs. Carrie Massey, living near La Due.
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